The Last of Earth: A Novel
From the award-winning author of Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line comes a “thrilling and profound” (BBC) novel set in nineteenth-century Tibet that follows two outsiders—an Indian schoolteacher spying for the British Empire and an English “lady” explorer—as they venture into a forbidden kingdom.
“A riveting novel that takes on the hubris of exploration, the pursuit of immortality, and the abiding nature of love and friendship.”—Laila Lalami, author of The Dream Hotel
1869. Tibet is closed to Europeans, an infuriating obstruction for the rapidly expanding British Empire. In response, Britain begins training Indians—permitted to cross borders that white men may not—to undertake illicit, dangerous surveying expeditions into Tibet.
Balram is one such surveyor-spy, an Indian schoolteacher who, for several years, has worked for the British, often alongside his dearest friend, Gyan. But Gyan went missing on his last expedition and is rumored to be imprisoned within Tibet. Desperate to rescue his friend, Balram agrees to guide an English captain on a foolhardy mission: After years of paying others to do the exploring, the captain, disguised as a monk, wants to personally chart a river that runs through southern Tibet. Their path will cross fatefully with that of another Westerner in disguise, fifty-year-old Katherine. Denied a fellowship in the all-male Royal Geographical Society in London, she intends to be the first European woman to reach Lhasa.
As Balram and Katherine make their way into Tibet, they will face storms and bandits, snow leopards and soldiers, fevers and frostbite. What’s more, they will have to battle their own doubts, ambitions, grief, and pasts in order to survive the treacherous landscape.
A polyphonic novel about the various ways humans try to leave a mark on the world—from the enduring nature of family and friendship to the egomania and obsessions of the colonial enterprise—The Last of Earth confirms Deepa Anappara as one of our greatest and most ambitious storytellers.
“A riveting novel that takes on the hubris of exploration, the pursuit of immortality, and the abiding nature of love and friendship.”—Laila Lalami, author of The Dream Hotel
1869. Tibet is closed to Europeans, an infuriating obstruction for the rapidly expanding British Empire. In response, Britain begins training Indians—permitted to cross borders that white men may not—to undertake illicit, dangerous surveying expeditions into Tibet.
Balram is one such surveyor-spy, an Indian schoolteacher who, for several years, has worked for the British, often alongside his dearest friend, Gyan. But Gyan went missing on his last expedition and is rumored to be imprisoned within Tibet. Desperate to rescue his friend, Balram agrees to guide an English captain on a foolhardy mission: After years of paying others to do the exploring, the captain, disguised as a monk, wants to personally chart a river that runs through southern Tibet. Their path will cross fatefully with that of another Westerner in disguise, fifty-year-old Katherine. Denied a fellowship in the all-male Royal Geographical Society in London, she intends to be the first European woman to reach Lhasa.
As Balram and Katherine make their way into Tibet, they will face storms and bandits, snow leopards and soldiers, fevers and frostbite. What’s more, they will have to battle their own doubts, ambitions, grief, and pasts in order to survive the treacherous landscape.
A polyphonic novel about the various ways humans try to leave a mark on the world—from the enduring nature of family and friendship to the egomania and obsessions of the colonial enterprise—The Last of Earth confirms Deepa Anappara as one of our greatest and most ambitious storytellers.
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Community Reviews
The claws of the British Empire had sunk deeply into India by 1869. Its population and that of the surrounding countries had seen what happens when the British arrive, and Tibet wanted nothing to do with them. Europeans were forbidden within its borders, but that didn’t stop many of them from trying to enter, despite the fatal consequences of being caught.
British Captain T.G. Montgomerie, stationed in India, had spent years surveying the Karakoram mountains on Tibet’s border. He sought the honor it would bring if he could prove that Tibet’s Tsangpo River was, indeed, the Brahmaputra in India. It must be surveyed to prove this, so hired Balram, an Indian school teacher and surveyor, to lead the team of bearers on his quest. As the trip unfolds, it becomes Balram’s story as he searches for a childhood friend and seeks redemption for having failed him. His story is one of deep history and connection to his lost friend and how his own life’s path was one of duty at the price of living an authentic life.
On another path, posing as mother and son, are Katherine Westcott and her porter and guide Mani, who wants to become a monk. Katherine is of mixed heritage, which she hopes will bring her cover as she travels Lasha. Trapped by cultural restraints both as a female and one of mixed heritage, she is driven to travel and wants to be the first Western woman to reach the holy city.
She, too, is seeking deliverance but knows that the guilt she is fleeing will arrive in Lhasa with her. Perhaps this holy city will be of no respite.
This book is a complex weave of history, culture, resistance, and souls in turmoil. It is also about a breathtaking landscape of ancient origins where a culture both mysterious and alluring to westerners has thrived for centuries.
Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for providing this eARC.
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